Cambodia Turns to Malaysia For Renewable Energy Boost.

Cambodia and Malaysia have reached an agreement to collaborate on renewable energy and green technology.

Minster of Environment Say Samal and Malaysian Minister of Energy, Green Technology and Water Maximus Ongkili signed the deal on the sidelines of a renewable energy technology conference in Kuala Lumpur.

The agreement is geared towards training and capacity building, with the Malaysian government promising to lend its expertise, said Minstry of Environment spokesman Sao Sopheap.

â€œMalaysia is really ahead of Cambodia in terms of green technology and the green economy,â€ Sopheap said. â€œWe plan to start by having a visit on the technical level from (Malaysian) government officials so that we can learn from them.â€

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has been pushing a renewable energy plan. At the conference, he announced a plan to make Langkawi the country’s first low carbon island, while pledging to quadruple Malaysia’s renewable energy output by 2030.

The existing strong ties will further strengthen by the signing of the MOU between the government of Malaysia and the royal government of Cambodia, “Razak was quoted as saying in local media

â€œThis is an ongoing cooperation in the field of green technology and is sure to promote the development of product and services to the benefit of both Malaysia and Cambodia.â€

Sopheap said Malaysia can help them in myriad ways – from helping to institute pollution controls, to promoting solar use to coming up with more effective liquid-waste management.

“We have a lot of potential in terms of promoting renewable energy, especially solar and biomass,” he said.

Sopheap would also like to see public agencies use electric cars and for heritage sites, like the temples of Angkor Wat, to lower their carbon footprint.

He said that the government will work to attract foreign investment from Malaysian green-energy companies. A meeting for green technology companies from the two countries is already in the works, Sopheap said.